Eager Cubs fans buy tickets

Fabi Silva, of Elmwood Park, holds up tickets for Chicago Cubs games at Wrigley Field. Silva was 13th in line today, and had shown up around 7 a.m. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Cubs fans who earlier obtained wristbands this morning began buying single-game tickets for the 2009 season at Wrigley Field.

Single-game tickets went on sale at 8 a.m. at the ballpark. They also will be available at 10 a.m. on cubs.com and by phone.

There were long lines at Wrigley Field before 8 a.m., even though the Cubs earlier pointed out there was no advantage to "camping out" at the ballpark because buyers would be chosen by a random drawing of all wristband numbers distributed prior to 6 a.m. today.

A virtual waiting room will begin accepting customers at 9:30 a.m. and will be used for all Internet orders. At 10 a.m., customers will be randomly selected from the virtual waiting room to start buying tickets. Fans also can call 1-800-843-2827.

Despite the recession, the Cubs had a season-ticket renewal rate of 98 percent, according to Frank Maloney, director of ticket operations. The waiting list for season tickets recently went above the 100,000 mark.